


A Family Can Be A Space Elf Pirate Pain Vampire And His Adopted Human Baby

by Vehemency



Category: Warhammer 40.000, Warhammer 40k (Novels) - Various Authors
Genre: Wholesome, and then going to work, it's literally just a dad comforting his kid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25455415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vehemency/pseuds/Vehemency
Summary: Rideric Drusidhe, leader of the ruthless Khaineborne corsair fleet, must contend with his most troublesome opponent yet. His daughter waking him up at an unholy time before a raid because she had a nightmare again. : (
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	A Family Can Be A Space Elf Pirate Pain Vampire And His Adopted Human Baby

The dream was dispersing like ink in water, flashes of imagery and sound fading into the darkness. Two very real little hands tugged at the sleeve of his robe insistently and he groaned as he rolled onto his side and cracked open one eye only to immediately shut it again as a shaft of light poured into it.

He willed his eyes to open again. Exhaustion clawed at him yet, threatening to shut his eyes once more. The light steamed in a width no wider than his slender hand from the open door, and a little head was blocking some of it. Moon-bright eyes stared at him in fear, reddened around the edges, a snotty little nose sniffling. 

“Fann, what’s wrong?” His mouth felt horrifically dry and cottony. He really needed to start drinking water before he tried sleeping, he decided.

She blubbered something, immediately crawling onto the bed and flopping against him to hiccup and sob on him.

Concerned, he sat up and wrapped his arms around her while still blinking away the rest of the sleep from his eyes. He stroked her hair with one hand as he cuddled the little girl. His long night-black hair shrouded both of their heads as a curtain. It was not unusual for her to have nightmares now, but each time he felt a part of himself break seeing her in such terror. He hummed lightly, rocking her slowly in his arms. She was so small... She eventually took slow shuddering breaths. When her breathing completely evened out he moved her to sit properly in his lap and brushed some of the sticky tear-snot mess off her face. “My little moonfire, what’s wrong?” He asked again, a bit more gently, a bit more quietly.

She sniffed again and wiped her face on her sleeve. “I had a bad dream.”

“Do you want to talk about it this time?”

Fann shook her head.

“Do you want to go back to sleep?”

She nodded slowly, clutching the fabric of his robes tightly.

Rideric sighed and then pulled her into his arms again as he swung his long legs off the side of the bed to get up. “Lets go to the kitchen then to get you something to help with that.” Fann’s little arms wrapped around his neck and she pushed her face back against his chest as he walked into the light.

The hallways of his personal quarters were dimly lit, the floral etchings upon the walls most visible in the faint shadows they had pooling around their edges. He moved with soundless steps on rare Yrren wood floors, passing through the quiet crystal-decorated parlour and around another hall decorated with subtle barrier sigils into the kitchen. From the wide entrance to the kitchen he could see every door in his private quarters, including Fann’s which stood wide open with her bright happy doodles staring back at him. 

It struck him for a moment how small his dwelling was. As a child he had run of both of his parents' homes. A fabulous manse with gardens of beautiful flowers and sweet fruits his mother would peel for him and an austere palace where he spent his time racing around slippery empty halls despite his father’s chastisement. Now his daughter was stuck in a dwelling space only half of what he grew up in and what he had given his son. 

He put Fann down on one of the counters in the kitchen and bent downwards to look at her messy face as he pushed away more sorrowful thoughts that coiled in his chest. Drying snot and tears clung to her and she muttered to herself as she looked down at her lap. 

“My poor little dear heart,” he cooed, stroking her hair with one hand while he used the other to grab a clean rag from the counter. He stopped stroking her to instead move to the basin, warm water automatically springing from the fish shaped spout. He wet the cloth and squeezed the excess out before returning back to his child and cleaning her face. “You’ve got so much snot on you I can’t see your pretty face, Fann!”

Fann submitted to having her face wiped with minimal fuss, sputtering a little when the cloth went around her mouth. 

He tossed the cloth behind him absently and sort of hoped it would land back in the basin while he kissed the top of Fann’s head. She moved her lips as though she had words to say but no sound came. He tipped his head, “what was that?” He asked.

“I’m thirsty,” she mumbled. Her eyes darted around as though afraid her nightmares would wiggle out of some dark corner.

“Ah,” he put his hands together as he briefly went over in his mind things to give her. “What do you want?”

She furrowed her brow in thought, swinging her legs so that her heels would hit the cabinets and making him internally wince a little each time. “Something… warm.”

Warm drinks limited the options quite a bit so after a few moments of consideration he moved to the cold crystal faced cabinet where the various perishables were kept in rather untidy groupings. Rideric had long decided that so long as _he_ knew where things were in the kitchen then he had no need to organize anything unless he felt like it. He reached in to pull out a jug of white tallim-milk, shaking it as he walked over to the stove. It was a blank black surface except for the few clean pots and pans that sat on it awaiting to join the ever-growing hill of dirty dishes in the basin that Rideric studiously ignored for Future Rideric to handle instead. Slaves were out of the question, they would spread disease to his daughter if their ungainly forms did not traumatize her, and he found a strange value in doing things by hand.

He passed his hand over the black reflective surface, a colorful hologram seeping into the air with various temperature switches. He chose one and scrolled it upwards a few ticks before banishing the light and picking up a small pot. Fann scooted over towards him on the counter looking a little more lively. “Can I sleep in your bed?” She asked while resting her head in her hands.

“Hm?” He filled the pot halfway with the milk and set it down as the heating element beneath came to life as a sullen blue swirling glow. 

“Please?” She clasped her hands together and looked up at him with her big round eyes. Silver as newly cleaned steel. “Please? Please? I’ll be quiet! I won’t wiggle!”

He shook his head at her, “I didn’t even say anything. If you won’t kick me in the side you can sleep in my bed.”

She smiled tiredly at him and Rideric felt his heart tremble a little. He took down a cup from a shelf and filled it with the warm tallim-milk, putting it in her little hands and placing his own hand back on top of her head. He delicately twirled some of her short hair around his long fingers, making sure his sharp metal nails did not slice into her scalp as she drank the milk. She looked peaceful, sleepy eyes gazing outwards.

He gently picked her up again as she continued slowly drinking the milk and carried her back to his bedroom. By the time they went past the floral-etched walls Fann’s head was resting heavily on his shoulder. He took the empty cup from her hand and set it down on a table strewn with bottles and cosmetic palettes right beside his bedroom door and then shut it with his foot. 

Reaching his bed he made a hasty check with his free hand to ensure there was nothing strange staining the sheets or any miscellaneous objects that should not pierce, stab, or cut a child resting in the folds. Satisfied, he slowly pulled Fann free from him and laid her down on the bed. Her eyes were dim lights in the dark, faint silver halos half-hidden by drooping lids. He walked around to the other side of his bed and climbed in himself, pulling the silken blanket over them both and wrapping an arm around his daughter as he tried to find the exhaustion he felt earlier. Fann felt so small and frail, he found himself slowly curling around her like a great feline, as though he could somehow physically ward away the nightmares that snapped at her soul. 

Rideric looked up at a hideously bright blue sky with happy white clouds and a warm yellow sun. Far below he could see rolling fields of grains with villages built of blue and red brick, verdant forests of every shade of green and brown. Nearby a powerful river flowed with vigorous strength, winding its way to a more distant city where tall walls of grey stone embraced a city of gold and white. 

He hated it all immediately. 

“You look happy,” the voice of Taniren was close in his ear, even though the Scourge was currently perched at the very nose of the raider, taloned feet gripping the impaling spike. Seven other raiders kept behind Rideric’s like nervous ducklings.

“My daughter had a nightmare and then kicked me for three hours,” Rideric hissed, rubbing more sleep from his eyes. “Then I had to get up and make breakfast and we’re out of stilema. Also it’s bright as f-”

“You should really look into giving her nightvelvet.”

“I’m not drugging my child,” Rideric hissed. “We have a few minutes. Where’s my ash-shock, maybe it’ll help me wake up before we sta-” jade light flashed and Rideric groaned. “Khaine’s hand, Vraesque!” The city seemed to be abruptly stabbed with dozens of dark arrows from the jade light above. Damn Vraesque and his impeccable timing, Rideric thought. He took his blade and directed it downwards towards the villages where the seething masses of humanity crawled out like bugs to light, the steerswoman nodding. Maybe a bit of violence and agony would help wake him up. He cheered up at the thought as his raider approached a group of humans, he could see their terror so clearly, feeling it running through through the hole in his soul.

**Author's Note:**

> It just felt weird letting this account sit empty. These two will get a proper introduction eventually, until then I hoped you enjoyed the Very Wholesome Father-Daughter Time.


End file.
